The first hurricane to make landfall in Florida in over 10 years hits Florida's northern Gulf of Mexico coast and slams Cedar Key with almost 10 ft of storm surge. Docks, buildings, and roads were damaged and several sections of shoreline eroded overnight.

UF called a meeting for the community to discuss erosion and decide if they wanted to move forward with more discussion. Overwhelmingly, attendees at that meeting felt more discussion was needed. Read more:

Drs. Mark Clark, Savanna Barry, Christine Angelini, and Scott Wasman partnered with the Suwannee River Water Management District to apply for funding for stakeholder workshops and pilot research. The grant titled "Investigating Implementation Techniques, Benefits and Stakeholder Preference of “Living Shorelines” as a means to Stabilize and Ecologically Enhance the Coastline around Daughtry Bayou - Cedar Key, Florida" was selected for funding by the Florida Coastal Management Program.

Stakeholders (homeowners, county and city officials, and Cedar Key residents) participated in a Visioning Workshop facilitated by the Natural Resources Leadership Institute. The goal of the workshop was to introduce property owners to various concepts regarding erosion in Cedar Key’s Daughtry Bayou, including the history of erosion, impacts of erosion, and potential ways to mitigate erosion.

During the Visioning Workshop, attendees:

• Discussed erosion history in the area and preferences for shoreline uses
• Learned more about and compared various options for erosion control
• Narrowed down a range of acceptable project types that promised to preserve the shoreline at G Street and Airport Rd. locations, according to preferred uses.

Read the workshop summary: Coastal Erosion Project Stakeholder Workshop Letter Aug 2017 (pdf)

Feedback from the Visioning Workshop was incorporated into several draft erosion control project designs. The project team presented these draft designs to stakeholder groups from G Street and Airport Rd. in Oct/Nov 2017. Click on the circles below to view the workshop materials and follow the progress of each project area.